DVD
REVIEW: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

09/27/09

OVERVIEW:
Experience the very first chapter of the exciting X-Men saga through the eyes of a true Marvel legend when X-Men Origins: Wolverine arrives Blu-ray Disc (BD) and Special Edition DVD September 15 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Hugh Jackman (Australia, Deception) returns as the iconic character in an epic adventure that pits Wolverine and all mutants against powerful forces determined to eliminate them. Spanning over 150 years, X-Men Origins: Wolverine chronicles young James Logan and his tortured past… from boy, to man, to mutant. From conflicts with his half brother Victor Creed – aka Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber; Defiance, The Ten), his membership in Team X, his infamous adamantium rebirth and the total memory loss that ultimately fuels his angry quest, X-Men Origins: Wolverine paints the vivid and difficult journey of the legendary superhero.
SYNOPSIS: Leading up to the events of X-Men, X-Men Origins: Wolverine tells the story of Wolverine’s epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed and the ominous Weapon X program. Along the way, Wolverine encounters many mutants, both familiar and new, including surprise appearances by several legends of the X-Men universe whose appearances in the film have long been anticipated.
FILM REVIEW:
Logan: [is
shown his dog tags] I want new ones.
William Stryker: And what do you want them to say?
Logan: Wolverine.
Ah yes, May is here once again. Ever hear that expression,
April showers bring May flowers? Well how about April
commercials bring May blockbusters . . . and we are off to
the races. YES! I am a major fan of mainstream good ol’
fashioned summertime action movies and this year is going to
be out of this world. I am more than excited. A couple of
years ago it was Spiderman 3 and last year it was Iron Man
which proved to be a tremendous hit. This year we’ve got the
next installment (and hopefully far from the last) in the
X-Men series to start out this year’s summer movie season.
The moviemakers were wise in changing it up by going back
instead of just cranking out an X-Men 4. I’ll admit I was
very skeptical when I first heard of this production
thinking that it wouldn’t work to just focus on one of the
X-Men when we have been accustomed to seeing a whole
collection of them. It would be boring, I thought . . .
until I saw the first preview and I was hooked. And believe
me, the movie lives up to the hype. It was dramatic, action
packed, sexy, touching, and funny at times. There was an
interesting little love story going on in there too that
almost seemed out of place, but it was the reason for a good
amount of the plot. Speaking of plot, yeah, there are some
twists in this thing that left my jaw open. Overall the
story telling aspect of this movie was really good and I was
impressed on how well it all tied with the rest of the movie
series, especially the first two. Many of you probably
didn’t like X-Men 3 too much (I enjoyed it thoroughly, but I
understand). I assure you, this one makes up for it.
Kayla Silverfox: You're not an animal, Logan.
Victor Creed: Yes you are.
I know of a few ladies that are huge Hugh Jackman fans. Yes
I’m talking to you. Don’t miss this. I’m sure you’ll enjoy
his “physical” performance. I was enjoying his acting
performance. He was right on! And surprise, surprise, so was
Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed / Sabretooth. I’m being
sarcastic of course because Liev has a knack for nailing
these cold, intimidating, unwavering characters so it is not
surprising at all that he gave another sharp performance.
Actually, now that I think about it, there is a slight flaw
in the connection between this movie and the others. The
Sabretooth in this one has very little or no connection with
the one in the first X-Men. It’s like they are two different
characters. In this movie, Sabretooth and Wolverine have a
history and yet in the first X-Men they don’t even seem to
know each other. But we can get past that. Getting back to
Wolverine, he always seems to have such internal conflict
going on all the time and this movie is no exception. Is he
an animal or a compassionate person looking for justice and
reason? Hugh delivers one of his best performances playing
this role. The overall cast is pretty well composed. Two of
the more interesting cast members are Will i Am and Ryan
Reynolds. They both had small roles and Will was actually
okay. Ryan, as he does best, was doing his thing with his
quick wit and line delivery. He had me cracking up just like
he did in Blade Trinity. He is awesome, unexpected comic
relief in the middle of a hard core action movie . . . I
love it.
Visually, as you would expect, this film is top notch. It
has excellent cinematography with the use of incredible sets
and filming locations (beautiful mountain scenes). The
special effects are as good as always with this franchise.
One of my particular focus areas is the use of mutant powers
. . . the more the merrier. Well, this film passes that
test. Another interesting aspect of this film is that
neither Bryan Singer (Director of the first two) nor Brett
Ratner (Director of the third) directed this one. The honor
went to Gavin Hood (Rendition) and he did it right. Thanks
Gavin for keeping the “mystique” and the power of the X-Men
franchise alive and well.
Film Review By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
DVD: X-Men Origins: Wolverine is presented in
a widescreen format with a 2.35:1 aspect ration. The
transfer looks clean, judging from the watermark screening
received it is very difficult to determine the real quality
of the video, however I wont doubt that the final product
will be just fine. The picture is
complemented with a 5.1 Dolby digital sound in
English, French and Spanish with Spanish, English and French
subtitles.
In terms of special
features The X-Men Origins: Wolverine Special Edition DVD
includes a couple of decent featurettes. The first one is "The Roots of Wolverine: A Conversation with X-Men creators Stan Lee and Len Wein".
In this featurette the creators talk about the origins of
wolverine. This is by far the best of the pack. The second is a
behind the scenes called “Wolverine Unleashed: The Complete Origins”.
It also includes a total of four deleted and alternate scenes
that don't add anything new to the story.
VIDEO:
2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
AUDIO:
English
Spanish French 5.1 (Dolby Digital).
Subtitles - English Spanish - Optional
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Commentary by Director Gavin Hood
Commentary by Producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter
The Roots of Wolverine: A Conversation with X-Men creators Stan Lee and Len Wein
“Wolverine Unleashed: The Complete Origins” featurette
Deleted and Alternate Scenes
Anti-Smoking PSA: Bubbles
Digital Copy
RATING BREAK DOWN:
FILM REVIEW |
 |
VIDEO |
 |
AUDIO |
 |
BONUS
FEATURES |
 |
Submit Your Movie Review
MORE MOVIE REVIEWS
>>>